
Today Vietnam witnessed the largest ship ever to call at her shores. The ‘Mathilde Maersk’ made its inaugural call as part of Maersk Line’s new direct service
The direct TP6 weekly service will have a Wednesday sailing from Vung
Tau, providing an optimal Monday evening cargo closing for exporters,
and a Sunday arrival into Los Angeles, California, USA with a transit
time of just 18 days.
“This is a fantastic day for us. We have worked intensively for more
than a year to meet our customers’ demand for a direct call to the US
West Coast. The challenge has been to ensure safety and security when
entering the Cai Mep-Thi Vai River, considering the size of the vessel
and draft limitations. But through close co-operation with the
Vietnamese authorities, we are thrilled to see our customers’ wishes
come true today,” said Peter Smidt-Nielsen, General Director of Maersk
Line in Vietnam at the celebration event Maersk Line hosted today for
more than 250 guests, including customers, government officials and
media.
The TP6 service is one of seven trans-Pacific strings that Maersk Line
offers in its global network. The world’s biggest shipping line
currently operates a fleet of 500 container vessels.
“We are delighted to be able to improve Vietnam’s connectivity to the
world with our big vessels. This has positive implications for
improvements in both cost efficiency and reliability. For our customers
around the world who do business with and in Vietnam, the TP6 will serve
them even better than before. We are confident that the service will
help Vietnamese and US exporters and importers to optimise the potential
of this growing market,” said Jesper Praestensgaard, Chief Executive
Office of Maersk Line, Asia Pacific.
Built in 2009, ‘Mathilde Maersk’ is an example of the commitment Maersk
Line has towards the climate change agenda. The vessel is designed to be
energy-efficient right from the start, with energy-efficient
construction of its hull, propeller and engines. It is also equipped
with a sophisticated waste heat recovery system that enables waste heat
to be used for propulsion, thereby significantly reducing fuel
consumption.
Maersk Line’s TP6 service offers a competitive product covering the Far
East and US West Coast. Ports of call eastbound will include Tanjung
Pelepas, Malaysia; Vung Tau, Vietnam; Yantian, China; Hong Kong, China
and Los Angeles, USA.
The westbound rotation will be Los Angeles, USA; Yokohama, Japan;
Nagoya, Japan; Shanghai, China; Ningbo, China; Xiamen, China; Hong Kong,
China; Yantian, China, and Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia. South Vietnam
imports will continue to be serviced via transhipment at Hong Kong by
feeder service.
North and Central Vietnam will continue to be served by feeder via Hong
Kong and/or Tanjung Pelepas.
Source: A.P. Moller - Maersk Group
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